Hepatitis C virus genotypes in hemodialysis patients in Angola

To our knowledge, there are no published data on hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in Angola. This study aimed at assessing the distribution of HCV genotypes in seropositive hemodialysis patients in Luanda. Among 51 HCV-positive subjects included, viremia was detected in 27 (53%). HCV genotyping was performed by bidirectional sequencing of the 5'-untranslated region by the Sanger method. HCV genotype 4 was largely predominant (20 cases; 74%), followed by genotypes 1b (5 cases; 18.5%), 1a and 2 (one case each; 3.7%). These results suggest that the distribution of HCV genotypes in Angola is similar to that reported from other Central African countries.